


Burial at Sea

by cherryfeather



Category: Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Genre: Gen, Missing Scene, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-24
Updated: 2011-12-24
Packaged: 2017-10-27 23:45:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/301400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherryfeather/pseuds/cherryfeather
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His friend stood at the railing for a long time. Missing scene from Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Burial at Sea

**Author's Note:**

> Short coda for the boat scene. MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS.

His friend stood at the rail for a long while after letting the handkerchief fall. John watched his friend closely, looking for any hint to the thoughts undoubtedly turning and turning in that mind of his--but no, Holmes stared at the ocean with distant eyes, abstracted as ever, then abruptly turned and strode back to his seat beside John, hand going into his pocket and whipping out his pipe and tobacco.

John watched him smoke, giving him the silence, a little surprised to find his own throat slightly tight. "When?" he asked finally.

Holmes let out a puff of smoke, still gazing fixedly into the middle distance. "I assume the day of the explosion at the auction house. I intercepted a message she was meant to carry." His voice was quiet, for Holmes, oddly neutral. John winced inwardly.

"You mustn't blame yourself," he began, knowing the words were awkward and useless, but thank God, Holmes waved him aside before he could stumble his way through any more meaningless phrases.

"I don't," Holmes said with his characteristic brusqueness. "I always knew her association with him would end badly. For her." He took another long drag on his pipe.

John nodded, leaning back against the cold steel of the ship, his eyes drifting out to the water. _Oh, Irene,_ he found himself thinking. He'd...almost miss her.

No. He would.

As would Holmes, he felt sure, looking at his friend again. Holmes had been fixated on this Moriarty case from the start. But professionally, it hadn't become personal...until now? "Holmes, you're not..."

"You know revenge is not my game, Watson," Holmes assured him, casting him a sideways glance. One corner of his mouth twitched up slightly, a gesture that might have been an attempt at a reassuring smile in any normal human being.

"No," John agreed, but he couldn't help looking closely at him, checking his face for the hint of a lie. Holmes looked placidly back at him, and John relaxed, smiling faintly at him. "No, it's not."

Holmes shook his head, going back to his pipe, and they settled back against the wall.

It was a long moment before Holmes spoke again. "Make no mistake, though, her murder does have its place on the long list of charges against the professor."

John nodded grimly. "Indeed." The waves crashed against the side of the ship, the breeze tugging at the ends of John's scarf. "I'm sorry, Holmes."

"As am I." Holmes let out a long trail of smoke into the air. His voice was so quiet, John barely heard it. "She was an exceptional woman."

John nodded, looking out at the water where Holmes had let her handkerchief go. "She was." He glanced at Holmes, smiling gently at his friend. "She would have liked a burial at sea."

Holmes smiled briefly. "I rather thought so."

They sat in companionable silence then, huddled together against the chill wind, and for one of only a few times in his life, John was sure he knew what Holmes was thinking.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on my tumblr.


End file.
